All News articles – Page 332
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News
Lighter wagons
A new range of high-strength steels developed by SSAB Swedish Steel offers the promise of significant savings in wagon tare weights, with improved payload and lower operating costs. The company is proposing to adopt designs based on automotive engineering, using hot-rolled Domex steel which has a yield strength of up ...
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Portland opens two lines
MORE THAN 50000 people jammed the Portland City Streetcar for free rides during the opening weekend, following the formal inauguration on July 20. The 3·8 km L-shaped route connects northwest Portland, the Pearl district and Portland State University campus. Connecting with the region’s MAX light rail routes, the Streetcar is ...
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LTA rebrands
ON July 31 Singapore’s Land Transport Authority introduced a new identity and signage for public transport. The S$3·9m branding aims to create a strong visual image with a common identity across all trains, buses and taxis.Citigate Lloyd Northover produced comprehensive design guidelines for the new identity. A unique typeface has ...
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Maglev radio
EUROPEAN Aeronautic Defence & Space Company subsidiary Racoms has won a €29m contract from Siemens to supply radio communications for the Shanghai Transrapid maglev project.A 38GHz range radio relay system will be provide real-time transmission of data between moving trains and the control centre, using highly-focusing antennae along the route. ...
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Manila speed-up
WITH TRAFFIC congestion in Manila worsening, on July 18 Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Department of Transportation & Communications to give priority to the construction of new LRT routes and increasing capacity on the existing network. Consultants are to be appointed this month to assist with a 10·5m pesos ...
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Metros
Canada: Toronto Transit Commission put Alcatel’s SelNet System Management Control into revenue service on the Scarborough Rapid Transit line in July.France: Alongside a programme to increase capacity at Toulouse Matabiau station, SNCF is discussing with local authorities a 15 km ’tram-train’ (RG 7.01 p467) route to Blagnac Airport, north of ...
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Passing the motivation test
ON AUGUST 2-3 Southern Africa Railway Association held a workshop on track maintenance awareness, motivation and leadership in Lubumbashi. SARA reports immense enthusiasm among the delegates from Congolese National Railways, who were clearly inspired by a thirst for knowledge.Many of the Congolese delegates travelled considerable distances to attend the event. ...
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Pointers
n Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp submitted proposals to the Hong Kong regional government on July 13 for the proposed HK$30bn cross-Kowloon rail link connecting the new East Rail terminus at Tsim Sha Tsui and West Rail at Nam Cheong Street. KCRC and MTRC were due to present proposals for the 15 ...
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Swiss progress
CEREMONIES were held at Langenthal on August 2 to mark the mid-point in the construction of Swiss Federal Railways’ Mattstetten - Rothrist line. SBB Major Projects Director Paul Moser confirmed that the benefits of the SFr5·9bn Bahn 2000 investment programme would become apparent in December 2004, when a major ...
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Rijn-Gouwe takes off
PLANS to develop dual-mode light rail services in the Netherlands moved ahead last month, when Den Haag transport operator HTM ordered six LRVs from Bombardier. Based on the Stockholm A32 cars, they are due for delivery by the end of 2002. To be built in Wien at a cost of ...
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Software upgrade
Bentley Systems has released version 8.2 of its InRail track layout and 3D design software, which includes German, Danish and US standards. Enhancements include information management integration with ProjectWise, and remote access capability. Emch + Berger of Switzerland is using InRail to produce a precise three-dimensional digital terrain ...
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ETCS Level 1 ordered
SWISS FEDERAL Railways has approved its first commercial application of ETCS Level 1 train control on lower-density routes. On June 27 a €9m contract was awarded to Alcatel Transport Automation for resignalling of the 30 km Seetalbahn between Lenzburg and Eschenbach. As well as 24 colourlight signals, 26 point motors ...
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Intelligence August 2001
Australia: Western Australia government is to spend A$1m building a 1·5 km link to a wood chip mill in Albany. Westnet is to construct the line, with the state meeting interest costs over four years. Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor has identified regauging the Mildura line next year as a ...
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SF6 switchgear
SIEMENS Transportation Systems has received Railtrack product acceptance for Sitras 8DA 25 kV AC SF6 gas insulated switchgear. Later this year 44 panels will be commissioned as part of Skanska Rashleigh Weatherfoil’s power reinforcement project at Corey’s Mill on the East Coast Main Line.Sitras 8DA is the latest generation of ...
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Open access boosts IKEA Rail
SEPTEMBER 1 will see the start of IKEA Rail AB’s first open-access freight services between Sweden and Germany, following the signing of the necessary track access contracts on June 29. The Swedish-based furniture supplier decided earlier this year to form its own rail division, which is headed by the former ...
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Perpignan - Figueres accord
MEETING in Toulouse on July 12, French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot and his Spanish counterpart Francisco Álvarez-Cascos agreed that the two countries would share equally the €709·2m public-sector contribution towards building the 45·5 km Perpignan - Figueres cross-border route. Expressions of interest in a concession to build and operate the ...
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Landbridge accord signed
A MEMORANDUM signed in Ostrava on June 22 will pave the way for construction of a 1524mm gauge rail link across southern Poland from Katowice to a multimodal terminal at Bohumín in northern Moravia by the end of next year. The US$300m project envisages the extension of the existing ’Sulphur-Steel ...
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Maglev all the rage again
ON JULY 16 Nexans announced an order from ThyssenKrupp Transrapid GmbH for supply and installation of the long stator motor winding for the 30 km guideway of the world’s first commercial maglev project in Shanghai, and the first cables arrived in the Chinese city from Germany last month.Although the ...